Ebrahim Raisi

Sayyid Ebrahim Raisolsadati (born 14 December 1960), commonly known as Ebrahim Raisi, is an Iranian Principlist politician, Muslim jurist, and the eighth and current president of Iran since 3 August 2021, following his election to the presidency in the 2021 election.

Ebrahim Raisi was born on 14 December 1960 to a clerical family in the Noghan district of Mashhad.

His father, Seyed Haji, died when he was 5.

Ancestrally, Raisi is among Husayn ibn Ali (Hussaini) Sayyids, and he is connected to Ali ibn Husayn Zayn al-Abidin Sayyids.

Raisi passed his primary-education in "Javadiyeh school"; then started studying in the Hawza (Islamic seminary).

In 1975, he went to "Ayatollah Boroujerdi School" in order to continue his education in Qom Seminary.

He has claimed to have received a doctorate degree in private law from Motahari University; however, this has been disputed.

He began his studies at the Qom Seminary at the age of 15.

He then decided to study in the Navvab school for a short time.

After that, he went to Ayatollah Sayyed Muhammad Mousavi Nezhad school, where he studied while also teaching other students.

In 1976, he went to Qom to continue his studies at the Ayatollah Borujerdi school.

He was a student of Seyyed Hossein Borujerdi, Morteza Motahhari, Abolghasem Khazali, Hossein Noori Hamedani, Ali Meshkini and Morteza Pasandideh.

Raisi also passed his "KharejeFeqh" (external-Fiqh) to Seyyed Ali Khamenei and Mojtaba Tehrani.

According to Alex Vatanka of the Middle East Institute, Raisi's "exact religious qualification" is a "sore point".

"For a while" prior to investigation by the Iranian media, he "referred to himself" as "Ayatollah" on his personal website.

However, according to Vatanka, the media "publicized his lack of formal religious education" and credentials, after which Raisi ceased claiming to hold the aforementioned rank.

After this investigation and criticism he "refer[ed] to himself as hojat-ol-eslam", a clerical rank immediately beneath that of Ayatollah.

Raisi subsequently again declared himself an Ayatollah shortly before the 2021 presidential election.

The decree by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei appointing him as President, refers to him as a hojat-ol-eslam.

He was also Prosecutor and Deputy Prosecutor of Tehran in the 1980s and 1990s.

In 1981, he was appointed the prosecutor of Karaj.

Later on, he was also appointed as Prosecutor of Hamadan and served both positions together.

He was simultaneously active in two cities more than 300 km away from each other.

After four months, he was appointed as Prosecutor of Hamadan Province.

He was appointed as Deputy prosecutor of Tehran in 1985 and moved to the capital.

He was one of the four people on the prosecution committee, which was responsible for the execution of thousands of political prisoners in Iran in 1988 and is hence labeled the "death committee".

He is sanctioned by the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control in accordance with Executive Order 13876.

He is accused of crimes against humanity by international human rights organizations and United Nations special rapporteurs.

Raisi successfully ran for president a second time in 2021 with 62.9% of the votes, succeeding Hassan Rouhani.

According to many observers, the 2021 Iranian presidential election was rigged in favour of Raisi, who is considered an ally of Ali Khamenei.

Raisi is often seen as a frontrunner to succeed Khamenei as Supreme Leader.

Considered a hardliner in Iranian politics, Raisi's presidency has seen deadlock in negotiations with the U.S. over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and large-scale protests throughout the country in late 2022, triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini on 16 September.

After three years and in early 1988, he was placed in the attention of Ruhollah Khomeini and received special provisions (independent from judiciary) from him to address legal issues in some provinces like Lorestan, Semnan and Kermanshah.

Hussein-Ali Montazeri named Raisi as one of the four persons involved in the 1988 executions of Iranian political prisoners.

Other persons were Morteza Eshraghi (Prosecutor of Tehran), Hossein-Ali Nayeri (Judge) and Mostafa Pourmohammadi (MOI representative in Evin).

Raisi served in several positions in Iran's judicial system, such as Deputy Chief Justice (2004–2014), Attorney General (2014–2016), and Chief Justice (2019–2021).

He is a member of Assembly of Experts from South Khorasan Province, being elected for the first time in the 2006 election.

He is the son-in-law of Mashhad Friday prayer leader and Grand Imam of Imam Reza shrine, Ahmad Alamolhoda.

He was Custodian and Chairman of Astan Quds Razavi, a bonyad, from 2016 until 2019.

Raisi ran for president in 2017 as the candidate of the conservative Popular Front of Islamic Revolution Forces, losing to moderate incumbent president Hassan Rouhani, 57% to 38.3%.